The Washington critic., 1887-12-17
MISTRESS AND MAID.
Stumbling Blocksin the Way of Amer.
lean Workingwomen.
GAIL HAMILT0N'S VIEWS.
a Spirited Defense Of the Mistress Good
Advice to Missionaries.

who ministers to the poor
in the suburbs of great city says that
u common reason why girls refuse to
enter upon household service is that IL
degradcs them in the eyes of their fcl-
lows. Men of their own class will not
marry them. They are called Scrubs
and they lose caste. And as it was in
the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
ut least so long as the present dynasty
of humanity lasts, women live and love
to please men.
This is indeed hard TO understand.
Simply for his own comfort one would
suppose that even u very stupid man
would be glad of the chance TO have the
heavy bread and sodden meat of an in
experienced maiden fired into some
other family than his own. There would
then be hope that these death-dcaling
experiments would bring him, in due
time, n toothsomc aud cheerful table.
There is nothing in human history,
however, to show that men are
not capable of just as great folly
as womcn,. and, therefore, they
may he capable of this. 1t remains then
for the apostles of humanity to convert
these men from the error of their
thoughts, and, If they cannot, to convert
women from the error of supposing that
there is no one. else for them TO marry
except these foolish men
Lack of consideration on the part of
employers seems to be huge bugbear
In the way of women workers. Mrs.
Helen Campbell gives us some harrow
ing illustrations of the selfishness and
heartlessness of households. / cannot
refute the argument. have never made
any investigation. But may speak of
what know. l have haunted families
of all sizes and conditions, from. the
quiet house which kept only one
maid-of-all-work to the Establish
mcnt' which was conducted by
twenty, and l never saw one, not
one, where the woman Of the house
was not womanly. lnever saw one in
which the mistress did not consider her
servants as human beings and did not
plan for their pleasure, their comfort,
their welfare and generally for their
savings banks. The mistress takes more
apparent thought for the general
WELFARE OF THE SERVANT
than the servant takes for that of the
mistress. This is as ii should be. be-
cause in most cases the mistress is no.
only in the superior position, but is the
superior person, and, therefore, nat
urally has wider range of vision and of
duty.
When these charges against the house
mother descend from generals to partic-
ulars, their unreasonableness is more
palpable. One girl cites, us proof of the
undesirableness of the situation, that she
helps the husband and son to their hats
and overcoats, and they pay no more
heed to her than If she were Il
stick or stone. When Dr. Halls pa
rishioners are invited to send that girl
into the country to a position, they ought
to give her sound preliminary lecture
and then keep her at home under their
own eyes. She is not the kind the
country villages want, though, perhaps,
as pure heather, with great deal of
vigorous moral exposition at the city
end of the line, they will take her.
There are, indeed, few men whose
bearing to the maids is as if they were
duchesses, with the result of an enthusi-
asm on the part of the maids as in
nocent as it is convenient. But this is a
condition that cannot be enforced and
should not be prescribed; and if young
women cannot be content with the
masculine respect that is conveyed by
on-consciousncss, the only safe path is
one that leads the other way.
ANOTHER COMPLAINS
that she has no place to receive her
friends except the kitchen. Let the
New York Missionary Committee ex-
plain carefully to the women whom they
are sending out into the country that this,
in many cases, cannot be helped. Country
houses sympathize deeply with the city
poor in their wish for a parlor, but have
none to offer We desire not to deceive
them. Let them understand perfectly
beforehand that It's not so nominated
in the bond. But the church commit
tee will do good work, Christie CT ecclesiG,
if they will assemble their beneiiciares
in the church parlor and preach to them
such gospel of cleanliness and order
and fidelity that the latter will perceive
that while they are at work in
the kitchen they ought not to
receive company, and when they
are mt leisure to receive company,
their kitchen should be 80 tidy that it
shall be n perfectly proper place to re-
IL
DIR. Parkhurst's church will ransack the
chambers of their own memory they will
recall many kitchen of their youthful
experience in which their own fathers
and mothers received the neighbors with
the utmost cordiality, dignity and salts
faction. Unless the women OF New
York can conform 10 this state of things,
the country cannot draw them out from
under Brooklyn Bridge and down from
their fourtcenth-story rookeries.
1t is more 10 the purpose that house
| maids are
NOT FURNISHED WITH A ROOM
or bed to'themselves, but are obliged
to share it with comradc. This is a
real deprivation, which should in all
possible cases be avoided. Vet it is
hardly n grievance, because in many
cases it cannot be avoided. The only
thing is TO let every woman know be.
forehand, so that she may be prepared
and if she find the difficulty insurmount-
able she must not encounter it. Very
many country houses have but one room
| for the occupation of maid. Very
/ few would he able TO afford the cX-
pense of building ON an extra room
| even for the sake of accommodating the
| overflow of New York. Many would
| afford the extra cost of two servants in
stead of one, If the two would occupy
the same room and come at a lower rate
of wages than is paid to the one, which,
| of course, would mean less work and
more leisure TO that one.
Yet have just seen a man and his